Winding installations



y 4, 1965 P. cuvmo'r 3,181,837

WINDING INSTALLATIONS Filed Feb. 19, 1962 INVENTOR PAUL (will '01 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,181,837 WINDING INSTALLATIONS Paul Cuvinot, Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, France, as-

signor to Preparation Industrielle des Combustibles, Fontainebleau, France, a French concern Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 174,058 Claims priority, application France, Feb. 25, 1961, 854,031, Patent 1,282,436 1 Claim. (Cl. 254-188) This invention relates to winding installations and has more particular reference to winding installations of the multirope type in which the skip, cage or other similar apparatus is suspended by at least two ropes.

In certain multirope installations, it is best to place the winder on the ground near the head frame, for example, if the ground resistance around the shaft is not likely to support the high load concentrations necessarily caused by the winding tower when the winding machine is located in that tower. In such case, it is advisable to place the winding machine on the ground, the two sets of sheaves being located at different levels. However, this arrangement presents a certain number of drawbacks. Especially when it is desired to reduce the vertical distance between the two sets of sheaves, it is best to locate the machine far enough from the tower to avoid the ropes to the top sheaves coming into contact with the ropes to the bottom sheaves, this results in the occupation of a larger space on the ground by the whole installation.

If, on the other hand, the space occupied by the installation must be reduced by locating the machine nearer the tower, the vertical distance between the two sets of sheaves must be increased in order to prevent the ropes going to the top sheaves coming into contact with the bottom ones.

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved multirope winding installation in which the above defects are overcome.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved multirope winding installation, as characterized above, in which the sheaves around which the ropes turn are located on different vertical planes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved multirope winding installation which is simple in construction and installation and one which prevents the ropes coming in contact with each other.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a multirope winding installation comprising two pairs of superposed sheaves;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to that shown in FIG. 2, but showing a different positioning of the sheaves;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 1, but showing a modified from in which the pairs of sheaves are mounted on the same axle;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to that of FIG. 5, but showing the pairs of sheaves positioned differently.

The present invention provides a novel and improved multirope winding installation for use in hoisting skips, cages and similar apparatus and, in general, comprises locating the winding machine and the sheaves around which the ropes turn so that the ropes do not contact each other.

3,181,837 Patented May 4, 1965 Referring now to the drawings, there is diagrammatically illustrated, in FIGS. 1 and 2, one embodiment of a multirope winding installation constructed in accordance with the present invention. As there shown, the winding machine, illustrated by winding drum 10, is designed to raise or lower a skip (not shown) by multirope portions noted as 11, 11 and 12, 12', whichv turn over upper sheaves 13 and lower sheaves 14, respectively. It is to be understood that a single continuous rope is used in the invention but that it has been herein noted as two ropes 11 and 12 for the sake of clarity of disclosure. Portion 11 contacts one pair of sheaves and portion 12 the other pair of sheaves. The bottom sheaves 14 have the same distance A between them as the distance between the center of the two ropes 11, 12 upon the winding drum 10. The top sheaves 13 have a distance between them B which is a predetermined distance greater than A, so that the rope strands going from winding drum 10 to the higher sheaves 13 are located outside the bottom sheaves 14. It, therefore, becomes unnecessary to allow a minimum head space between the upper and lower sets of sheaves, seeing that the ropes going toward the top sheaves 13 cannot come in contact with the bottom sheaves 14.

In FIG. 3 there is shown a modified arrangement in which the bottom sheaves 14' are located outside the upper sheaves 13' and are similarly spaced relative to each other, so that the respective ropes 11, 11' and 12, 12' going to the upper and lower sheaves cannot contact each other.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, there is illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the sheaves 13" and 14" are all mounted on the same axle 15. The winding drum 10' is positioned as in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The two sheaves 13" serving a hoisting appliance have a smaller radius than the two sheaves 14" serving another hoisting appliance and may rotate in reverse direction.

The difference P between the radius of sheaves 13" and that of sheaves 14 is equal to the distance between the centers of the winders. As viewed in FIG. 5, the distance between the grooves of drum 10' being equal to C, the two smaller sheaves 13" corresponding to one of the Winders are fitted on the common shaft 15 with a space D equal to C plus a predetermined amount Y, while the two sheaves 14" are mounted on the common shaft 15 with a space E equal to C less the predetermined distance Y. Thus, the ropes going to sheaves 13 and 14" are kept from coming into contact with each other.

In FIG. 6, there is shown a modified arrangement in which the sheaves 14" are located outside the sheaves 13" and are similarly spaced relative to each other so that the respective ropes 11", 11", 12", 12" cannot contact each other.

From the foregoing, it readily will be seen that there has been provided in a multirope winding installation, pairs of sheaves over which a rope turns so positioned that the ropes do not contact each other.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted to the modifications thereof herein shown and described.

What is claimed is:

A multi-rope Winding apparatus for hoisting a pair of skips comprising a winding drum, a pair of parallel grooves about the periphery of said drum, a first pair of sheaves, a second pair of sheaves, first shaft means supporting said first pair of sheaves, second shaft means supporting said second pair of sheaves, said first shaft being in spaced relationship above and vertically offset from said win-ding drum, said second shaft being in nonaligned spaced relationship between said winding drum and said first shaft, the axes of said Winding drum, said first and said second shafts being mutually parallel, dual rope means leading from one skip over said first sheaves, around said Winding drum and over said second sheaves to the other skip, said ropes means being following paths parallel to each other except during travel between said first sheaves and said Winding drum when their paths are converging, one of said pairs of sheaves being spaced apart at a distance no greater than said grooves about said Winding drum and the other of said pairs of sheaves 7 being spaced apart at a distance no less than said grooves about said winding drum.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,226,947 12/40 Sheldon 214-25 FOREIGN PATENTS 664,686 1/52 Great Britain.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

10 JOSEPH P. STRIZAK, Examiner. 

